I seen in the Clarks catalog that the worm gear and pitman shaft and gear are not available or may never be. Ive been tearing down a few boxes to rebuild and finding that thy gears are rusted and pitted. So, how about the pitman shaft and worm gear?I too would like the fast ratio steering box, since Flaming River has stopped producing them...at least from what I remember.I have had fellow club members purchasing the new thermostat bellows and having a high failure rate after about 6 months. Not sure whats causing this but would like to see them last considerably longer.

Phil, it took a while for me to orient myself in order to figure out what you were trying to describe (the "A" pillar goes from the roof to the beltline. From there on down it's a hinge pillar.) Here in rusty Ohio, when a car rusts out there, the body is probably a total loss as well.

The reason the hinge pillars rust out is because of a reinforcement on the inside that acts like a funnel between the two hinges. You can clean this out by running a garden hose in through the kick vent. Just let it trickle out of the hose, and not full force. It would also be a good time to flush out the rocker panels along with the hinge pillar.

In making the part, you'd have to make two styles, one for the '65-6 cars and one for the '67-9 cars. Plus make it out of heavy gauge metal. The factory also has to use a press with a two-slide ram in it (for a binder), because these hinge pillars require the metal be stretched into the desired shape. A crash die just cannot make this part. All of which adds expense to the part. Just some things to consider as to why they haven't been repopped; and also if they do get repopped, why they will probably be expensive.